lend us their space this week. and look at the beautiful background behind us. and our fireside chat people have been calling. thank you for joining us tonight on cnn. >>> good morning. welcome, everybody. welcome to our special coverage of the 2012 election coming to you live from the nation's capitca capit capital, just 24 hours to go before voting begins after a 17-month, $3 billion race for the white house. it couldn't be any closer. the final cnn poll shows a dead heat, both candidates making closing arguments in key states that could decide the election. best political team on tv has it covered for you this morning. >> i'm john berman. the candidates cramming to day. mitt romney, president obama and their running mates making 18 stops in eight critical states. we're live in every key battleground state. >> and in the end, this is the only math that counts. i'm christine romans. looking to the race to the states. we'll take a look at the road that each candidate can take to get to that magic number. >> it's been one week since hurricane sandy forever change